Last Chance For Redemption
by Ano-chan
Summary: A man tries to redeem himself for past crimes. But when he is finished, what else is left for him to do? ColosseumShipping! Please R


Wee! Don't own Pokemon.

* * *

I collapsed at the stool in the bar, the first rest I've had in a long time. He sits next to me, covering his golden eyes with his hands, resting his elbows on the table. This isn't the first time something like this has happened…but I'm surprised it doesn't happen more. I closed my eyes and remembered what we had both gone through together. Rui and Wes, the unbeatable team. I silently smiled to myself as that thought went trough my head. Wes and I had been chasing after the last member of team Snagem, normally, he wouldn't be that big of a threat, but he had the last one, the last shadow pokemon, and Wes refused to rest until he was caught.

Most people think we're doing this simply for the greater good, standing up because no one else is strong enough to, but that's not entirely true. I think…I know that to Wes, this is the only chance he has at redeeming himself. He used to be a part of the same team that created the shadow pokemon, the same team that uses pokemon only as means to an end, they close the doors to their hearts, turning them into violent tools of destruction and pain. Each one of these Wes sees, he sees each trainer he beat, another trainer he had stolen a pokemon from, stolen, having no idea on what they were being used for. Sometimes…sometimes it's just too much for him.

"No one here…" I mumbled to myself as I stared around the bar, obviously abandoned, the jukebox broken and shattered, a thick layer of dust covering everything around them, I was surprised the stool we were sitting in supported our weight. I'm not surprised Wes would stop here, he can never show anyone what doing this does to him, to the people, he is a knight in shining armor, a man who is never afraid, never worried, but in the end, he's simply human. As I stare at him, quiet and unmoving, I can't help but feel glad that he allows me to see him like this, see him vulnerable.

At first…I was simply a hostage, gagged and thrown into a bag. I'm the only person that can see shadow pokemon, see their aura of hatred; I'm the only one that can prove they exist. We found me, and saved me, pulling me from the bag. I was absolutely stunned the first moment I saw him, his golden eyes seemed to pierce right through me, he faced seemed to be locked into a permanent frown, but I noticed those second. His aura was the first thing that grabbed at my attention, every person has one, all different colors, blue, red, green, any color imaginable, but his was different. His seemed to be hidden, buried beneath something…but it was strong, that I could sense. Along our trip, each person he defeated, Miror B, Dakim, Venus, with each one he seemed to grow a little brighter, walk a little easier, as if weight was slowly being taken off his shoulders, as if he was finally being redeemed. Then, at the last battle, with the final blow struck, and the last pokemon fell, I think he was finally free.

Yet…he wasn't, he just seemed…tired. His shoulders slumped and he turned and walked away. As always, I followed, in hopes that I could help him, hopes that there would be peace.

But that peace never came, we found that there was one last pokemon, one last hostage that needed to be saved, and when Wes heard, he hardly even waited for me as he ran to his motorcycle and we were off once again, his bike churning up great clouds of dust as we raced through the desert.

Removing his hands from his face, I watch Wes slowly stand up and grab my hand, as he did, I couldn't help the smile forming on my face. Whenever he grabbed my hand I felt…safer…happy…and, something else. But before I could think anymore I found myself in the passenger seat of the bike. Wes slammed his foot down on the accelerator, revving the engine, and then we were off.

A particularly large bump jolted me from my sleep, shaking my head, I stared into the distance, the sun had nearly fallen behind the horizon, the landscape barely lit by the last few subtle rays of light. As I scanned ahead I spied another dust cloud, one that could only be caused by another motorcycle, Wes had found the last member. Looking over to Wes I saw that his eyes were locked on the small target in front of them, showing no signs of tiredness as he pushed forward relentlessly. We slowly began to catch up, right until we were riding right alongside him. The thief look kept glancing over to us, a scared look evident in his eyes.

"Take the wheel," Wes said to me, I looked at him incredulously.

"Are you serious?" I shouted at him, he nodded back at me.

"Yes," he gruffly replied, "now get over here and take the wheel," I quickly compiled, scrambling over to his seat. As soon as my hands grabbed the wheel, Wes moved over to the passenger seat and stood up, his long coat flapping in the wind. Glaring at the thief, he crouched and I could only watch in horror as he leapt over to the other bike. Barely catching the edge he quickly pulled himself up, keeping his feet from touching the ground, a move that would surely had caused him to be pulled off. As he pulled himself up I saw the thief try to aim a punch at him, but Wes quickly caught it with his free hand. As they began to grapple for control the bike veered to the right, kicking up a cloud of dust, obscuring my view for both of them. Then, amidst the roaring of the engines in my ears, I heard a soft thump, then…

_CRASH!_

That sound tore through me, but I still couldn't see what had happened! The dust began to slowly clear, and as it did I saw what had happened. It was a sand dune, just a small sand dune had caused. They had been going far too fast to glide over it, the nose of the bike had slammed into in, flipping the bike over and sending it crashing to the ground.

"No!" I shouted, feeling the tears forming in my eyes. I quickly drove to the wreckage, hoping to find some chance, any chance, that Wes was okay. Stopping the bike next to the wreckage I jumped and began rummaging through it, digging through parts looking for Wes. Hearing a groan, I dug faster, slowly revealing a face, but it was that of the thief. He seemed to be perfectly fine, just knocked out, but where was Wes? Then, I realized he could have been flung from the bike in the crash. Quickly standing up I looked around and spied something, running over to it, I saw exactly what it was.

It was Wes, it looked like he had come off worse than the thief, his coat was completely torn to pieces and he bled from several cut all across his body. I quickly threw my arms around him; several tear running down my face onto his own. I felt his rhythmic breathing and the beating of his heart as I did, simply increasing my happiness. Wes let out a small groan and I realized I was probably hurting him; I quickly pulled away and noticed he had something clenched in his right hand. Reaching down, I saw what it was, a pokeball, none other than the shadow Pokemon we had been searching for.

Wes's eyes slowly opened and he looked at me.

"Angel?" he asked slowly, obviously disoriented.

"No stupid," I replied, smiling at him, "you're not dead, though by all accounts you should be,"

"So…the plan worked?" he asked, looking down at his hand that held the pokeball.

"You call that a plan?" I asked incredulously, "why didn't you try and cut him off with your bike, or do something that didn't risk your life?" by the time I finished I was practically yelling at him, the tears back at full force.

"My way seemed fastest," he offered, and I could help but smile, a small chuckle escaping my mouth.

"That's so stupid," I told him, then slowly worked my arms around him, pulling him up, "now come on, you probably need some help," I explained to him.

"Thanks…Rui," he said, as he slowly fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

I had managed to drive Wes to the hospital in Phenac City, the Doctor were surprised to see him in such a condition, the knight in shining armor was never supposed to be hurt, and they immediately began caring for him. Luckily, many of the cuts were superficial, and only one needed stitches, a large cut across his chest. I sat in a chair across from his bed; a large bandage was wrapped across his chest as he relaxed. For once in his life, I noticed, he actually looked at peace. I sat there for a long time, simply staring at him, the silence seemed stifling. It was finally broken when Wes opened his eyes at looked over at me.

"Hey Rui," he whispered to me, I got up and walked over to him.

"Are you okay?" I whispered back, staring down at him.

"Fine…I think…just very…very, tired," he replied, "I really…just don't know what to do now. Team Snagem and Cipher are both gone…" he let out a large sigh, "there's just nothing left for me…"

"What?" I said surprised, "but you can finally go back to having a normal life,"

"Normal…" he said to himself, "I don't think…I've ever had a normal life, from petty thieving…to team Snagem…to this…there's really nothing left for me," he lamented to me. I stood there, shocked. Finally, I narrowed my eyes in anger.

"That's a lie," I told him, he look up at me, confused, but before he could say anything I continued, "who was with all the time? Who's been with you through all of this? Who's the person that helped you whenever she could?" as I said this Wes's eyes opened in surprise.

"You…you've always been with me," he realized.

"Right…you don't have nothing…you have me!" I shouted at him, grabbing his hand, "you have me, your best friend," then as I said that, all those memories came to me, from the first time I laid eyes on him, to right until now, all the experiences, all the adventure, all we both had gone through, "you have a girl…who loves you…" the last part I whispered silently to myself, surprised that I could ever say it aloud.

"What?" asked Wes weakly, sounding surprised at what he had heard, "you…love me?"

"Of course," I replied, reaching up and wiping away another tear, I don't even know why I'm crying, "you're my knight in shining armor, so don't you dare tell me you have nothing,"

"Rui…" he replied, then, his other hand, the one wasn't holding, was suddenly on my cheek, and I felt myself being pulled, or maybe I was just leaning forward, his face seemed so close, and so were his lips…and we suddenly met, in a perfect kiss. At that moment, Wes's aura was finally released, a perfect flare of brilliant white, but I barely noticed.

* * *

Wes had made a perfect recover and we both left the hospital, me following close behind, we had had to buy him a new coat, which now flapped behind him. We soon got to his bike, which he hopped into immediately.

"Where to?" he asked.

"Does it matter?" I replied playfully.

"Not at all," and with those words he pulled me into the bike and we were off, to wherever our lives would take us.

* * *

Yay! Did this all in one day, when I should have been working on finals.

Please read and review.


End file.
